


Choices in life

by polarbearbaby



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-07 22:26:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21225221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polarbearbaby/pseuds/polarbearbaby
Summary: Kara has it all. A job she enjoys, a dog she adores, a boyfriend she... likes.But she cannot help but long for something more. Or, maybe, someone?This is the situation Lena Luthor walks into.And nothing is quite the same anymore.





	1. Hello

Kara Danvers has it all.  
So they say. So it seems. So it is, Kara thinks.

She enjoys her job as a reporter. She feels like she can make the world a better place by gently shedding light to various aspects of it. She writes about criminals and their motives, she writes about injustice and how to end it, she writes about amazing and good people. She is loved by her colleagues and readers. And Kara loves them the same.

She lives in a lovely and sunny apartment not far from the city center. The location is good, she lives close to her sister, her workplace, her gym, her university and most importantly, her favourite chinese restaurant. Her neighbors are mostly young families and older people and Kara loves them all. The place can be described with one word - it’s “hygge”. 

For those unaware, hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. Not surprisingly, Kara discovered the concept while interviewing the owners of a pizza place. A pizza place that no-one ever leaves without smiling. A pizza place that offers not only delicious italian-style pizzas made from sourdough in a wood oven, but a feeling of belonging, comfort and joy. The feeling of hygge.

Kara’s apartment walls are full of photographs of her family and friends, all smiling wide. Her guitar hangs up there, reminding Kara to brush the dust off of it and bring her old favourite songs to life. Until she gets to it, the instrument serves as a lovely decoration and impresses everyone stepping into the apartment. It isn’t the first thing you notice stepping in there, though… 

The first thing you notice is a small speeding black ball running directly towards you. When it reaches you, it stops just a few feet from you and starts wagging its tail. The little rascal is called Bear and he is Kara’s greatest blessing and biggest curse. You see, Bear is one of the most energetic dogs you have ever seen. He doesn’t know what staying in one place means or why anyone would ever want to do that. Kara loves him completely and the dog loves his person as well.  
Kara met Bear when she was writing a story for a favourite column of hers - “The lives of good people”. The column features fragments from everyday lives of ordinary, lovely people that you meet constantly and never think twice about. Kara brings them out from the shadows, gives them credit for just being them. It’s a real feel-good column. 

The piece she was writing when her life was about to change was about a honey farm family. She had just sat down to talk with the eldest son of 5, when she heard a quiet squeak. And when she looked around, she saw someone wiggling towards her, squeaking all the way. It was love at first sight. Arthur, the interviewee, explained, that their dog had had puppies a few months back and they had found new homes for almost everyone. Only this little fellow was still left. Needless to say, Bear travelled back home with Kara and has been following her since that day.

Right now, Kara is waiting in front of her office for a car. A silver Volkswagen Golf stops in front of the house and Kara gets in. 

“Hi,” says Winn.

Winn has been Kara’s boyfriend for four months now and he likes it a lot.  
When Winn asked Kara out, Kara didn’t have a reason to decline and she hasn’t really regretted that decision yet. Winn is super smart, decent and polite and hasn’t done anything wrong. 

Kara hasn’t had anyone special in her life in a long time. There have been dates, there have been candidates, a few months of courtship here and there… but these things have always come to an end. No big drama, no big fight, but, honestly, she just hasn’t found anybody she would really like. Like, really, really, like. Butterflies and goofy smiles like. 

Well, there was this one person in high school that made her heart beat so fast and loud Kara thought it was going to explode. That person left her life a long time ago. And Kara hasn’t felt like that since. So she is slowly beginning to accept that maybe it was a once in a lifetime thing. That the love and lust she had felt for her best friend back then had only been teenage hormones. And that maybe real grown-up love is not like that? 

Maybe it is enough to find someone decent and decide to be with them. There is caring, there is warmth, there is trust and commitment. The love will follow, Kara has decided to believe. This is how it’s supposed to be. And following society’s standards, there will be no further complications and it’s so much easier to just be happy. So she decided to make an effort and make it work for her. And why not with Winn? Winn is a great companion, he is considerate and well-mannered. His comments always make Kara laugh and she cares for him a lot. It’s just that… they still haven’t had sex.

Winn has very politely hinted that he would like to do just that while they’re making out on Kara’s couch or falling asleep cuddling. Kara knows that. Kara sometimes feels like she would like that too, but… she cannot bring herself to let her guard down and give herself to Winn completely. She likes him, yes. She cares for him, yes. “Give it time,” she tells herself. “Give me time,” she tells Winn. The boy agrees, of course he does. He understands. He knows that Kara has a somewhat troubled past with relationships and is perfectly happy just sleeping next to Kara. And Kara sincerely believes time is what she needs. Time to build trust, time to build love. This is how it works, right?

“Hi,” says Kara. They drive to Kara’s place in relative silence, just politely asking each other about how their days went.

After Kara has fed Bear and mixed together a pasta for herself and Winn, it’s time to take Bear for his evening walk. When Kara opens the door and steps into her front yard, she is thinking about a new artist she just discovered today and a song that spoke to her soul so for a moment she doesn’t notice Bear pulling her towards someone with all his tiny-dog-strength. So she almost crashes into that someone.

“HEY, BEAR, what are you doing, be nice, oh my god, I’m so sorry, my dog just started going on his own, he is so interested in everything new and…” Kara starts babbling fast but stops right in the middle of the sentence when she raises her eyes to look at the woman standing in front of her. 

She is wearing white sneakers, light blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Her hair is raven black and tied up in a messy bun. She has a carton box in her hands and she’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh that’s okay! He’s unbelievably cute! And it’s best he gets to know me. I’m Lena. I’m moving into apartment 6,” Kara hears the woman say.

All she can do is stare. 

“I’m really sorry, did I startle you? I assume you didn’t expect to meet anyone out here in the dark, I tried not to get in your way, but.. Bear, was it? just kept coming towards me, so I couldn’t really help it…” Lena continues.

And Kara finally fixes her composure. “Oh, no, I’m sorry, I got so lost in my thoughts for a moment that I had to fight hard to grip the reality again. Hi. Hello. I’m Kara. Apartment 14.”

And when Lena smiles again, Kara can’t stop the grin forming on her face as well.


	2. green eyed baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Bear go for a walk.  
Bear almost causes a horrible accident... or does he?

Kara just stands there for a few seconds, smiling at the gorgeous apparition in front of her.  
She doesn’t seem to mind, her smile turning into a friendly smirk.  
Bear watches the interaction and doesn’t understand it at all. He has had enough of this standing-in-one-spot nonsense, so he expresses his frustration with a small whine.

“Oh, I-i’m sorry, he’s not the most patient of dogs. He really wants to go for a walk. Bear, wait. Be nice, we’ll go in a second!” Kara explains to the dog before turning her attention back to Lena. “So. Are you alone? I, I mean, h-here now. D-do you need help moving in? I assume that’s not your only box. And it’s getting late and you really shouldn’t do it alone. I’m glad to assist, I haven’t had a workout in a while anyway.. Well if you don’t count walking the dog of course, he makes me get some steps in every day…” Kara knew she should stop speaking but she didn’t seem to be able to before the woman in front of her chuckled gently, forcing Kara to take a sudden sharp breath in. 

The sound of her laughter feels like something out of this world and Kara would give 5, no, 10 potstickers to hear that again. And the smile accompanying that laughter could start a war, Kara thinks.

Lena’s voice is soft: “Thank you so much for offering, you’re so sweet. I think I’ll be alright, I’m used to doing it alone. You go walk your dog, I’m not sure he’d let you stay here anyway.”   
And it’s true that by now, Bear has lost all of his patience and starts pulling Kara toward the street. Kara smiles apologetically back at Lena and follows the small rascal out of the gate.

Kara and Bear walk their usual path. There’s a dog park just a few blocks away that’s usually empty this time of evening. It’s perfect for Bear to burn all his endless energy and Kara can run around with him as well. Of all the agility obstacles, Bear especially loves the balance beam, because it makes him look tall. At least Kara thinks this is what it is. Walking on the beam also gives Bear a perfect opportunity to lick Kara’s face if it happens to be too close. Only wins for this dog!

This particular evening, though, even when running around, Kara’s thoughts keep flickering back to the person she just met. It’s a weird feeling for her - it seems like she’s known Lena forever, her shape and voice seem familiar. Like the woman has always been there in her life and meeting her had just felt like coming home after the longest day. It’s strange. Kara is positive she’s never seen that woman before. She would remember that for sure. “Lena,” Kara whispers to herself. She likes that name. It sounds elegant. “Lena,” Kara repeats. Why does she suddenly think it’s the most beautiful name in the world? Bear stops digging a hole for a second and looks at her with a puzzled expression. Kara smiles at the dog. “Sorry, Bear, carry on, don’t mind me. I’m not sure what’s happening either!”

Upon returning home, Kara doesn't see Lena outside anymore. She thinks the woman must have called it a night. What she does not expect when opening the front door, is Bear suddenly taking off and, using his full strength, making his way to Lena hovering over carton boxes stacked at the hallway wall. Before Kara could stop him, Bear has run three very excited circles around Lena and was now on his way back to Kara to tell her about meeting his new friend again. What his puppy brain could not yet comprehend, though, was that his leash was now wrapped around Lena. Kara sees it happening. The amused smile on Lena’s face turning into worry as the leash around her tightens and she starts to lose her balance.   
Kara leaps forward, now using HER full strength and speed. She manages to catch Lena just a moment before she would have fallen onto the hard tiled floor. As a result of this motion, Kara has a hand around Lena’s back, the other balancing on the dark-haired girl’s hip. Lena grips her shoulders with both hands. The women catch each others eyes and freeze in the moment. In that moment, a song Kara had stuck in her head earlier that day (to Kara, it seems like decades ago), starts playing in her mind again: “Green eyed baby, you mean so much to me, and I can’t help myself thinking about what we could be…”. Lena gathers herself more quickly and her amused smirk returns with a small cough. That seems to bring Kara back to earth. Or closer to earth, at least.

“Um… I’m sorry again. Bear was really happy to see you, I think he likes you a lot. He usually doesn’t run like that and he really shouldn’t have, you could have fallen and hurt yourself,” Kara breathes out.   
Lena raises an eyebrow: “Oh, well he better like me, I already love him! And I feel perfectly safe, it seems you’re quite a pro at catching people.” That sentence and the eyebrow have Kara’s heart speeding up in an instant. As she notices her heartbeat fasten, she also realizes that Lena can probably feel that too - after all, she is still holding the other woman close and Lena is still clinging to her for balance. Kara blushes and helps Lena to an upright position. She doesn’t know where to look and what to do with her hands, so she just adjusts her glasses awkwardly. “Y-y-yeah, I have mastered my leaping and catching skills for emergency situations like that. Not that it happens often, usually Bear keeps close to me.” 

Lena smiles. “Well, I’m very flattered he sees something special in me.”  
“You are something special.” Kara mutters to herself.  
“Excuse me?” Lena asks.  
“Oh… nothing. Are you sure you don’t need a hand with all those boxes? You saw my strength! And really, I’m glad to help! That would help me calm my heart about the fact that I almost pulled you down.. Well, Bear did, but he’s my responsibility as well, so...” Kara changes the subject.

“Well… technically, you caught me so you restored the balance already! But if you put it like that, my newly-found superhero, I think I actually could use your help. Some of these boxes are heavier than they look. And I need to get back to my old place once more today. So. I would appreciate it a lot if you could help me get those up the stairs.” Kara can see in Lena’s face, how hard it is for her to ask for help. But her heart fills with joy. What was it that Lena just called her? Superhero? Really? Her? This amazing woman called her that? Kara shakes her head quickly - she cannot keep thinking about that right now. She needs to get Bear to her apartment and help Lena.

“Say no more. I will be back in a second!” Kara calls as she rushes up the stairs.

Lena looks after her and a small blush forms on her cheeks. Who knew this blonde hurricane would await her in this new building.


End file.
